With great reserve we returned to the Belgian Beer Fest this year. Neither Jeanette or I like the flavor Belgian yeast can give to a beer. We are starting to identify it as banana clove flavor. But this years yeast was a mild one and they were letting brewer do a double fermentation (as in barreled age) so we thought we would give it another try. What we found was a lot of very tasty beer. With flavors we had not experienced before. In sampling about 20 different beers we found only one that Jeanette would dump. I still found it drinkable. Neither of use found a beer that we would want to search out but plenty of beers that if they were at a pub’s beer list we would be happy to order.

I still enjoy the format of the Belgian Beer Fest. We went early on the first day when mostly the older crowd shows up. So no lines and everyone was interested in actually sampling the beer and not just working on getting super buzzed. With all of the strong beers they had getting supper buzzed would have come easy. The Fest is still reasonably prices at $20 for eight samples and that is enough for use. The great weather allowed us to sit outside and that was a plus. So if they go with a mild yeast again next year we may return.